(Photo courtesy of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park)

MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is ready for its close up, and invites students to focus their cameras on the park and enter the fourth annual Digital Mountain Film Festival.

Student filmmakers from seventh to 12th grade can contact Park Ranger Kupono McDaniel to arrange filming and editing at the park, and beginners are welcome.

McDaniel can be reached at 985-6015 or by email at kupono_mcdaniel@nps.gov.

“This is an opportunity not only for students to express what Hawaii Volcanoes National Park means to them in a creative, fun way, but for the park to see how we are perceived by our youth – the ones who will be the future stewards of public lands,” said McDaniel.

The short films will be uploaded by park staff to YouTube, and the public will be able to vote for their favorite films online starting Nov. 12.

The deadline for all entrants is Nov. 5. The park will loan cameras to students who need them.

The Digital Mountain Film Festival culminates at 6 p.m. Dec. 1 with a celebration and public showing of the films at the park’s Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. Winners, who have a chance to win Mac laptop computers and digital cameras, will be announced at the festival.

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the National Park Foundation through the generous support of L.L. Bean, Disney, the Anschutz Foundation, and the Ahmanson Foundation.

Additional help, funding, and support comes from the Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii Pacific Parks Association, and the Big Island Film Office.

For more information, contact Ranger Kupono McDaniel at 985-6015 or by email at kupono_mcdaniel@nps.gov, and visit the festival’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ DigitalMountainFilmFestival